Individual Imprisoned for Minimum 23 Years for Killing Syrian-born Teenager in Huddersfield

A individual has been sentenced to life with a lowest sentence of 23 years for the killing of a young Syrian asylum seeker after the boy passed his partner in Huddersfield town centre.

Court Hears Particulars of Deadly Confrontation

The court in Leeds was told how the defendant, 20, knifed the teenager, 16, not long after the teenager brushed past his companion. He was found guilty of murder on Thursday.

The teenager, who had left conflict-ridden the city of Homs after being wounded in a blast, had been staying in the West Yorkshire town for only a couple of weeks when he crossed paths with Franco, who had been for a meeting at the job center that day and was intending to purchase beauty product with his girlfriend.

Details of the Attack

Leeds crown court was informed that Franco – who had used marijuana, a stimulant drug, diazepam, ketamine and a painkiller – took “some petty exception” to the teenager “harmlessly” passing by his girlfriend in the public space.

Security camera video displayed the defendant uttering words to the teenager, and summoning him after a quick argument. As the boy came closer, the attacker deployed the weapon on a switchblade he was carrying in his pants and thrust it into the boy’s neck.

Verdict and Sentencing

The defendant pleaded not guilty to murder, but was found guilty by a jury who considered the evidence for about three hours. He admitted guilt to carrying a blade in a public space.

While handing Franco his sentence on the fifth day of the week, judge Howard Crowson said that upon spotting the teenager, the defendant “singled him out and lured him to within your proximity to attack before killing him”. He said his statement to have seen a weapon in Ahmad’s waistband was “a lie”.

The judge said of the teenager that “it is evidence to the medical personnel working to keep him alive and his determination to live he even arrived at the hospital breathing, but in fact his wounds were unsurvivable”.

Family Impact and Message

Reading out a statement written by the victim's uncle his uncle, with help from his family, the prosecutor told the court that the victim's parent had suffered a heart attack upon learning of the incident of his son’s death, causing him to require surgery.

“It is hard to express the consequence of their heinous crime and the impact it had over all involved,” the message said. “The victim's mother still weeps over his garments as they carry his scent.”

The uncle, who said the boy was like a son and he felt remorseful he could not shield him, went on to state that the victim had thought he had found “a peaceful country and the achievement of aspirations” in the UK, but instead was “cruelly taken away by the pointless and random violence”.

“Being his relative, I will always carry the guilt that he had come to the UK, and I could not keep him safe,” he said in a message after the sentencing. “Ahmad we adore you, we yearn for you and we will do for ever.”

History of the Teenager

The trial was told the teenager had travelled for a quarter of a year to get to England from Syria, staying at a shelter for young people in a city in Wales and attending college in the local college before relocating to his final destination. The teenager had aspired to be a physician, driven in part by a desire to care for his mom, who had a chronic medical issue.